Steam Machines won’t be money-spinners

Dell’s Alienware division boss has given an interview to the Wall Street Journal which shows little enthusiasm for the upcoming Steam Machine launches. Despite the anticipation and early wave of enthusiasm for the Steam Machine idea it seems like cold hard economics might put a dampener on the products when launched. A powerful Steam Machine is going to be pretty much the price of a powerful PC, simply down to component costs.

While Valve’s hardware partners get to use the Steam OS, Steam Machine branding and bundle the specially designed Steam Controller with their machines, after the sale they basically don’t get any more gravy. Valve is hoping to enjoy more Steam games sales with the sale of these dedicated Steam -online store- Machines, of course. Compare that to how the big three console makers can sell their hardware at rock bottom prices and recoup cash via game attach rates, online services and subscriptions.